To Think God as Love

We do not build the kingdom of God on earth by our own efforts (however assisted by grace); the most we can do, through genuine prayer, is to make as much room as possible, in ourselves and in the world, for the kingdom of God, so that its energies can go to work.

God is always at work, but that work is not always visible. God is always at work, but sometimes the world’s processes go with the grain of his final purpose and sometimes they resist. But if certain things came together in the world at this or that moment, the ‘flow’ would be easier and more [...]

O Lord, in thee have I trusted: let me never be put to shame. And if an angel from heaven were to assure me that I had been cast out from thy sight, I would not believe him. Even if thou thyself, O God Most High, wert to say that thou hadst damned me for all [...]

In book 10 of his Confessions, Augustine famously asks and answers what it is he loves in loving God: But what do I love, when I love Thee? not beauty of bodies, nor the fair harmony of time, nor the brightness of the light, so gladsome to our eyes, nor sweet melodies of varied songs, [...]

“The only thing is to accept all the circumstances of one’s life, and all the effect they seem to produce upon one, and use them as a means of annihilating one’s will, cheerfully and willingly. There is no other recipe for prayer, I think.” 1 “I think spiritual pride is not dangerous to anyone who [...]

Recently, a student of mine shared this prayer with me, and I wanted to share it with you. From all eternity, O Lord, You planned my very existence and my destiny. You wrapped me in Your love in baptism and gave me the Faith to lead me to an eternal life of happiness with You. [...]

As I said, the doctrine of the Trinity began to emerge first from Jesus’ reflections on his unique – I insist on that word – experience of God, especially in prayer and the prayerful reading of Scripture. Jeremias famously claimed that in Jesus’ Abba-prayers we meet “something quite new, absolutely new,” ((Joachim Jeremias, The Lord’s [...]

People quite often say they are distracted during prayer. And they try to suppress these distractions. But this may well be a mistake. For distractions almost always come because we are praying for the wrong thing, because we are praying not for what we really want but for what we think we ought to want. [...]

“The principle thing is to stand before God with the mind in the heart, and to go on standing before Him unceasingly day and night, until the end of life.” St Theophan the Reculse

We sometimes talk as if prayer were a last resort, as if we can responsibly decide for prayer only after all other options for activity are exhausted. But that reveals our faithlessness, our “hardness of heart,” our double-mindedness. In truth, prayer is the first and best activity. The Scriptures – and the saints – remind [...]

Apologies for my hiatus. I hope to get back to posting regularly tonight or tomorrow. In the meantime, in light of our current series at Divine Life on prayer, let me share this Eberhard Jungel prayer with you: Almighty God, heavenly Father, You have given us life and the means of life. Daily and abundantly, [...]

The Uselessness of God As Brueggemann says, the thrust of the Decalogue’s first three commands is: God is not useful. God is not at our service, not a cosmic concierge stationed to cater to our felt needs.  When the people of God hear and confess “No other gods,” “No fashioned images,” and “No meaningless incantation of the divine name” we are [...]

“Every time a story is well told, the Gospel is served.”  - Eugene Peterson ~ The older waiter in Hemingway’s “A Clean, Well-Lighted Place” has no sense of God’s nearness. Unlike the younger waiter, he’s come to terms with himself, and all the illusions of youth – and of a naive faith – have been [...]

After Mark’s comments in response to my last post, I realized my thoughts needed clarification. First, I want to be careful not to reduce lament to complaint against or questioning of God. It includes that, of course, but it involves much more, as a reading of the Psalms demonstrates. Nonetheless, I want to address some of [...]

As Walter Brueggemann reminds us, the practice of liturgical lament is indispensable. We cannot afford not to protest against God to God. A genuine faith – an authentically human faith – not only permits but indeed requires this form of prayer.